Investment Team
The Advance Multi-Blend Funds are built and monitored by our Advance Investment Solutions team – investment experts with an average of more than 16 years' experience in financial markets.
Our size and contacts give us access to an extensive range of resources, both locally and globally, to ensure the Advance Multi-Blend Funds benefit from the latest thinking from around the world.
- Patrick Farrell, B.Sc, ASIA – Head of Advance Investment Solutions
- Felix Stephen, BA (Economics) – Manager, Strategy and Research
- Sidney Chong B.Ec. – Manager, Quantitative Research
- Dustin Adams B.Ec, B.Sc – Portfolio Manager, Australian Equities
- Mark Vrkic, B.Comm, ASIA – Portfolio Manager, International Equities
- Ron Mehmet, B. Arts (Hons), M App. Fin, Grad. Dip. Mgt, Fellow FINSIA – Portfolio Manager, Fixed Interest
- Dimitra Voutas, B.Ec, ASIA – Portfolio Manager, Property Securities
- Chris Thompson B.Sc, FIA, CFA – Portfolio Manager, Alternative Assets
- Andrew Dowie, B. Econ (Hons) – Economist
- Marcelle Murphy, B.Ec, Dip Ed – Economist
- Nick Valcas, BBus (Bking & Fin), SA Fin – Senior Analyst, Portfolio Research
- James Kerr, BAgEc (Ec) – Portfolio Manager, Tactical Asset Allocation
- Victor Zheng, B. Mathematic and Finance, M.Comm – Research Analyst
- Adrian Trollor B.Comm, ACA, CIMA – Investment Sustainability Manager
- Colleen Chidzey – Operations Manager
- Pia Velasquez B.Econ, M.Commerce – Investment Analyst
Patrick Farrell, B.Sc, ASIA – Head of Advance Investment Solutions
Patrick joined St.George in June 2007. Patrick has over 20 years’ experience in the investment industry, managing direct institutional portfolios across a broad range of disciplines. He has a Bachelor of Science majoring in pure and applied mathematics and has served on various Investment Committees and Superannuation Boards.
Patrick has extensive knowledge of fixed interest, multi-manager and tactical asset allocation portfolio management. Before joining St.George, Patrick was Head of Multi-Manager and Tactical Asset Allocation at IAG Asset Management that encompassed managing asset class exposures, direct hedge fund management, alpha transport strategies, multi-manager portfolio construction and major portfolio protection strategies.
Felix Stephen, BA (Economics) – Manager, Strategy and Research
Felix joined St.George in May 2004. Felix has nearly 40 years of extensive treasury and portfolio management experience in Australian and International fixed income and international foreign exchange markets. He has served on asset allocation, investment strategy and marketing committees at funds management institutions in Australia and overseas and has also been a consultant to institutions in Australia and overseas on funds management and financial markets.
Prior to migrating to Australia in 1987, Felix was the Manager, Treasury at the Bank of Ceylon London and a member of the market practices committee at the Central Bank of Ceylon. He gained his commercial banking experience, in Sri Lanka and London and has authored and published many research papers on global financial asset markets, macro economic trends, asset allocation and rural banking development. He maintains a strong network of key personalities within the industry and other organisations around the world.
Sidney Chong B.Ec. – Manager, Quantitative Research
Prior to being appointed to the role of Manager, Quantitative Research in Advance Investment Solutions, Sidney was responsible for strategic analysis, manager research, portfolio construction and ongoing monitoring for the BT Multi-manager fixed interest and alternative asset classes.
Sidney has over 18 years’ experience in the application of quantitative and qualitative disciplines for the construction and monitoring of multi-manager portfolios. Prior to joining BT in 2007, Sidney was an asset consultant and researcher with Mercer Investment Consulting advising institutional investors on multi-manager portfolio construction, manager selection and implementation issues. Prior to Mercer, Sidney was the Head of Quantitative Analysis at van Eyk Research and was responsible for quantitative analysis for van Eyk’s manager ratings, van Eyk’s Blueprint portfolios and a variety of institutional clients. Sidney also spent 9 years in institutional and retail asset management with Citicorp Global Asset Management across a variety of analytical and operational roles.
Sidney holds a Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University with majors in Economics, Accounting and Commercial Law and is a regular speaker at industry conferences.
Dustin Adams B.Ec, B.Sc – Portfolio Manager, Australian Equities
Dustin joined St.George in November 2004. Dustin has a Bachelor of Economics with majors in Economics and Econometrics, a Bachelor of Science (Psych), and has 14 years’ experience in financial services markets with a focus on investment research, portfolio construction and financial planning services.
Prior to joining St.George, Dustin was a research analyst at the managed funds research subsidiary of National Australia Bank, ThreeSixty Investment Strategy & Research, where he was responsible for the creation and ongoing monitoring of the template model portfolios on the MasterKey Custom platform. Prior to his time at ThreeSixty, Dustin was a research analyst for St.George Financial Planning where he was responsible for the approved investments list and model portfolios for the dealership. Dustin has extensive experience in managed funds research and portfolio construction encompassing both qualitative and quantitative research disciplines.
Mark Vrkic, B.Comm, ASIA – Portfolio Manager, International Equities
Mark joined St.George in October 2006. Mark has a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Accounting, and has 12 years’ experience in the investment industry with a focus on investment research, financial planning services and portfolio management.
Prior to joining St.George, Mark was a research analyst at IOOF Investment Management Limited responsible for managing their multi-manager equity portfolios. Mark has developed a strong network of global contacts within the investment management industry and has extensive experience in investment manager research, investment strategy and multi-manager portfolio management.
Ron Mehmet, B. Arts (Hons), M App. Fin, Grad. Dip. Mgt, Fellow FINSIA – Portfolio Manager, Fixed Interest
Ron Mehmet joined Advance in July 2010 as Portfolio Manager, Fixed Interest, bringing with him over 25 years’ investment experience.
Ron started his career at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) as a Management Graduate and progressively rotated though a number of divisions within the Banking Group. Ron’s experience includes investments, lending, merger and acquisitions, and financial markets (including money markets, foreign exchange, futures and stock broking).
After 12½ years with the CBA, Ron left his senior management role within the Financial Markets division to join the ING Investment Management (INGIM) – Multi Strategies Group in June 1997. While at INGIM, Ron was responsible for multi-manager portfolios, specifically Australian and International Fixed Interest, Enhanced Cash, and Australian and International Property Securities Trust portfolios, before moving to Advance.
Ron graduated from the University of Wollongong, with an Honours degree in Economics and Geography and has worked in the finance industry since 1984. Ron has since completed the Masters of Applied Finance at Macquarie University, Sydney and is also a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. Ron has also recently completed a Diploma in Management at the University of Technology, Sydney
Dimitra Voutas, B.Ec, ASIA – Portfolio Manager, Property Securities
Dimitra joined St.George in April 2003. Dimitra has a Bachelor of Economics with a joint major in Economics and Finance and is currently undertaking the Masters of Applied Finance course at Macquarie University. Dimitra has over 14 years’ experience in the investment and superannuation industry having worked for a large multi-manager fund, superannuation industry and insurance industry. Prior to joining St.George, Dimitra was Investment Manager at WorkCover responsible for managing the $6 billion WorkCover portfolio.
Dimitra has extensive experience in manager research reviews, multi-manager portfolio management, portfolio risk analysis and client reporting.
Chris Thompson B.Sc, FIA, CFA – Portfolio Manager, Alternative Assets
Prior to being appointed to the role of Portfolio Manager, Chris was a member of BT’s Investment Solutions team where he was responsible for overall portfolio construction and monitoring of the BT Multi-manager portfolios, as well as manager research within Australian equities.
Prior to joining BT Financial Group in 2005, Chris worked for Intech Investment Consultants where he was responsible for the portfolio management of the Intech Investment Trusts, a range of multi-manager portfolios totalling approximately $6 billion.
Previously, Chris was jointly responsible for investments at South Africa’s Nedcor Investment Bank’s multi-manager division. He also spent time in London involved with risk management at Credit Suisse Financial Products (the derivatives arm of Credit Suisse). Chris has also worked for the Southern Life Association in Cape Town, South Africa where he was responsible for product development for individual life and investment products.
Chris holds a bachelor of Business Science from the University of Cape Town and is a member of the Institute of Actuaries (UK) and a CFA charter holder.
Andrew Dowie, B. Econ (Hons) – Economist
Andrew joined the St.George Group in November 2006 as an economist, replacing Marcelle Murphy who was on maternity leave at the time.
Andrew holds an honours degree in economics from Staffordshire University, England and has also completed training with Merrill Lynch in New York and also with the Association of International Bond Dealers in Zurich.
Andrew comes to the team with 25 years of experience in financial markets, with a background in fixed interest markets. Recently, Andrew has worked in the information technology industry in management roles and prior to this worked for Merrill Lynch Investment Bank, promoting Australian Fixed Interest products to Asian markets.
Marcelle Murphy, B.Ec, Dip Ed – Economist
Marcelle Murphy joined the St.George Group in September 1993 as an economist. She holds a Bachelor of Economics Degree and Diploma in Education from Macquarie University. She also holds a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from FINSIA. She has extensive experience in economic and financial market research, working firstly as an Economist with Westpac Bank for a period of four years.
Her most recent position was as a quantitative analyst at ASSIRT, responsible for providing economic and investment market analysis and forecasts, which were used in the asset allocation decision-making process.
Nick Valcas, BBus (Bking & Fin), SA Fin – Senior Analyst, Portfolio Research
Nick joined St.George in June 2001. Nick has a Bachelor of Business with a joint major in Banking and Finance and is a Senior Associate of the Financial Services Institute of Australia. He has 27 years’ experience in financial markets with expertise in equity portfolio construction, portfolio risk analysis, portfolio exposure management, quantitative and financial modelling.
Prior to joining St.George Nick was Quantitative and Industrial analyst at ASSIRT Equities, and Equity Portfolio Manager at Australian Casualty & Life, and Royal & Sun Alliance.
James Kerr, BAgEc (Ec) – Portfolio Manager, Tactical Asset Allocation
James is part of the Portfolio Strategy team and is responsible for development and implementation of Advance’s Tactical Asset Allocation strategies. James previously held a seconded portfolio management role to the Advance Property Securities Multi-Blend portfolio. He was responsible for portfolio implementation, manager research and strategy review, and successfully oversaw the implementation of the portfolio throughout the 2009/10 business migration between BT and Advance.
James’ formally joined St.George Investment Solution in October 2007 as an Investment Analyst responsible for the management of the asset allocation re-balancing strategy across diversified portfolios, management of cash flows and liquidity levels across all funds, and execution of transactions on portfolio transitions. James also continues to assist Portfolio Managers in Australian equities and Australian Smaller Companies in manager research and portfolio implementation.
Prior to joining Investment Solutions, James worked with St.George Private Bank as a Wealth Support Officer and also held the position of a Review Coordinator, developing strategic portfolio review documents for Private Banking clients. James graduated from Sydney University with a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics in March 2006 and is currently is a candidate in the Charted Financial Analyst program, Level 2.
Victor Zheng, B. Mathematic and Finance, M.Comm – Research Analyst
Victor joined St.George in October 2005 as an analyst. Victor has seven years experience in financial markets with a focus on investment research, portfolio asset allocation and implementation.
Prior to joining St.George, Victor worked for three years at Morningstar Research where he was responsible for performance reporting and portfolio analysis.
Victor holds a Bachelor of Mathematic & Finance degree and a Masters of Commerce degree.
Adrian Trollor B.Comm, ACA, CIMA – Investment Sustainability Manager
Prior to being appointed to the role of Investment Sustainability Manager, Adrian was a member of the BT Investment Solutions team where he was Head of Product and Business, responsible for product development, management, investment implementation, transition management and business aspects of the group
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Adrian has 10 years’ experience with BT Financial Group (BTFG) across finance, product and investment solutions business areas. Prior to BTFG, Adrian gained extensive financial services experience with Ernst & Young both in Australia and overseas.
He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of New South Wales and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, and holds the Certified Investment Management Consultant designation through Investment Management Consultants Association.
Colleen Chidzey – Operations Manager
Colleen joined St.George in 1991 and commences with SGIS as the Operations Manager early November 2008.
She has a Diploma in Financial Markets through the Securities Institute of Australia and 14 years’ experience in the Funds Management industry. Most recently as the Senior Product Manager for Advance Asset Management Limited during which time she managed the ‘end to end’ delivery of key SGIS initiatives across the St.George Wealth business. Colleen is responsible for management of the day to day operational aspects within the Advance Investment Solutions team and brings with her a deep understanding of the overarching business. Previous experience also includes superannuation product management, Operations and 10 years retail banking experience prior to her time in the Funds Management industry.
Pia Velasquez B.Econ, M.Commerce – Investment Analyst
Pia joined St.George/BTFG in 2007. Prior to joining the Investment Solutions team, Pia was in the Finance and Operations team for Advance Asset Management encompassing fund and business aspects including investment and management accounting and the coordination of projects amongst business areas and service providers. She previously worked at BNP Paribas Securities Services across fund accounting, custody and the day-to-day relationship management of investment managers.
Within the Investment Solutions team, Pia is responsible for cash flow and liquidity management and asset allocation rebalancing. She provides support to the Portfolio Managers and Research team bringing with her an understanding of the business and her accounting and operational experience.
Pia holds a Bachelor of Economics from University of Sydney and Masters of Commerce from University of NSW with majors in Economics, Finance and Accounting.
